Dog in Wright City accident reunited with family after near 300 mile journey

Dog in Wright City accident reunited with family after near 300 mile journey

ST. LOUIS, MO- If Hollywood producers ever want a reboot of the movie, Homeward Bound The Incredible Journey, we know where they should start looking.

Last month, FOX2 reported on the story of Stephen Mason, who may have suffered from a diabetic episode in Wright City that caused a serious car accident en route from Indiana to Southeast Missouri. He remains in Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur with brain trauma, broken arms, and a broken leg. His dog, Jack, disappeared after the accident. The family searched for the Husky, who Mason had rescued and called “his boy.”

Last week, Zack Pauley and his girlfriend visited an animal shelter in Bloomington, Indiana, and were getting ready to leave when they spotted a fluffy black and white dog in a side room. They adopted him the next day. “He was a perfect dog whenever you were around him,” Pauley said by phone Wednesday. Bryzzo was Zack’s dog’s name. In short order, Pauley said the dog became the office pet at his State Farm office in town, “super sweet, good around all the people.”

Then the phone rang Wednesday morning.

“Got a phone call today that I really wasn’t expecting but it turns out the sweet guy that I adopted last week Bryzzo has an actual family and wasn’t abandoned,” Pauley posted on Facebook. “His real name is Jack and he’s been missing for about a month.”

Mason’s family located the dog thanks in part to the Bloomington Animal Control photo posted on Facebook showing new adoptions in March.

Photo Credit Bloomington, IN Animal Control

By Wednesday afternoon, Jack had been reunited with Mason’s family.

As tough as it was to lose the newest member of his family, Pauley said if the situation were reversed, he would have wanted the dog back too and that the right thing to do was to “make that family whole again…there was no real option other than to give him back,” he said

Pauley said Jack was excited to see his family again, and that Mason’s family told Pauley the first thing Stephen asked for when he came to in the hospital was about his dog.

Family members tell FOX2 Mason just regained consciousness a few days ago and only started talking yesterday. It is unclear when he’ll be able to talk to “his boy” in person.